First of Seven OIA Regional Meetings Kicks Off Successfully

Sierra Designs, Marmot, The North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Outside Interests, The Forest Group, OASIS, and REI hosted the first Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) regional gathering of the year on March 22 at the Lake Merritt Sailboat House in Oakland, Calif.

Sierra Designs, Marmot, The North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Outside Interests, The Forest Group, OASIS, and REI hosted the first Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) regional gathering of the year on March 22 at the Lake Merritt Sailboat House in Oakland, Calif.

This four-hour afternoon meeting, attended by more than 60 industry members, was the first of seven planned for the year throughout the country. OIA goals for the gatherings are to educate industry members about the benefits of OIA, encourage feedback on how the OIA can make a bigger difference for outdoor businesses, and to connect local companies with relevant conservation issues and actions.

Hugelmeyer told SNEWSÂ® that perhaps most important aspect of the day was that "We were able to introduce member companies to local conservation groups that are seeking to expand the inventory of local recreation areas or protect local areas. Those organizations got to meet key contacts that they would not have made otherwise."

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"It's all about networking. If we keep doing the regional meetings long enough, a spark is going to light locally and the events will take on a life of their own," said Barker, who was one of the driving forces behind establishing regional meetings. "It makes so much sense to be doing things like this regionally and locally to get employees that don't normally hear what is going on in the industry involved in the industry."

Business for Wilderness, a program of OIA's non-profit foundation, asked attending businesses to sign a letter that will be sent to the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. The letter requests the support of the original Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects 58.5 million acres of roadless forests. In May, Business for Wilderness will launch a report on the roadless issue and its impact on outdoor recreation.

Dan Smuts, representing the California Wild Heritage Campaign, provided ideas and action opportunities to protect California's remaining Wilderness and Wild Rivers. "America's outdoor human powered recreation industry contributed $18 billion to the U.S. economy in 2000. As industry leaders, I urge you to work with us and Business for Wilderness to protect the wilderness areas that are so vital to our lives and your businesses," said Smuts.

OIA has plans to hold six more regional events this year. Dates are tentative and each meeting event location is still in need of member sponsors before dates and times can be solidified. At the request of Nike, the city of Portland, Ore., has just been added as a location with no date set yet. Seattle, Wash., is slated for July; Chicago/Madison, September; Greenville, North Carolina, September (hoped to be near EORA show dates); and Denver, Col., October. For more information, or to join the list of sponsors for future regional meetings, contact b4winfo@outdoorindustry.org.

SNEWSÂ® View: Our eyes on the scene tell us that while the number of attendees was impressive, the number of retailer bodies was not -- maybe six by several counts. We know REI was there, and a couple of Any Mountain staff (say, don't they have over 14 stores?), and a couple others from local independent shops (where the heck was Marmot from Berkeley or Western Mountaineering from San Jose?). We are glad to hear Sally McCoy, Steve Barker, Frank Hugelmeyer and others echo that the meetings need to become more interactive and perhaps focusing on issues that can become local action items. We also fully endorse the concept as the perfect way for this industry to unite with, communicate with, mentor to, and inspire staff who don't typically get to go to trade shows, or get out into the industry much. Is a regional coming to a city near you? Then don't waste a minute and sign up now to become a member sponsor and get involved for the good of the industry and your company.

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